408. Hyena 하이에나 (2020) Korean

Kim Hye Soo, Joo Ji Hoon, Lee Kyoung Young

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A++

Where to even start with this show... I loved it, but there was also a lot that was messed up about it. It's ultimately about the underdog or "unclassy" lawyers vs. the elite, but either way there is corruption going on. So which is better, to be a low class lawyer who bends the rules for money, but also to gain an advantage and level the playing field with with rich or the elite lawyers who use the law for unjust means for the love of power and glory? Both are pretty messed up, but at least the low class lawyers are generally seeing truth and justice... but if you think too much about it in that way, you miss the fun dynamic of the story. But do note that like all political and law dramas, there is going to be some messed  up crap and lots of manipulation. What you want to pay attention to is a good group of characters and their developing relationships. It starts out with a strong rivalry because Jung Geum Ja literally manipulates elite lawyer Yoon Hee Jae into accidentally leaking information to her by dating him. That's both ethically and morally questionable. It's no wonder they hate each other... or at least he hates her... or does he?

411. Signal 시그널 (2016) Korean

Lee Je Hoon, Kim Hye Soo, Cho Jin Woong, Jang Hyun Sung, Jung Hae Kyun

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: B

I honestly don't remember why I didn't watch this one as it was airing. The two possibilities are that it was either not subbed on a site I subscribe to (I think that's the most likely) or that I was watching too many heavy/dark dramas at once and I couldn't. I do usually need to watch like 3 fluffy types to every 1 heavy one. Call it escapism. Anyway, once I miss the concurrent airing window, it's way easier to put it off in favor of currently airing ones, so even when I knew it was available on the Netflix, I still waited until my love of Kim Hye Soo made me finally just do it. (You'd think my love of Lee Je Hoon and Cho Jin Woong already would have, but I guess not). It's all about timing. Anyway, it's one I always wanted to watch, heard so much good about, and now finally did. It was worth all the praise too. It literally wrenched every emotion from me. Every single kind. All the feels! It was good.

409. Well Intended Love 2 奈何BOSS要娶我 2 (2020) Chinese

Wang Shuang, Xu Kaicheng, Ian Yi, Liu Jia Xi, Huang Qian Shuo, He Qian Ying

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A+

If I thought I was too morbidly curious and a glutton for punishment when I watch the first season of this, I only confirmed it by watching the second season. But I was curious to know how they were going to change it when I heard it was more of a reboot than a sequel. So there is really no way for me to talk about this with out some spoiler type deals for both season. But you need to be fully warned before you actually watch these shows, so you know what you're getting yourself into and aren't betrayed.

Basically season 2 is a peace offering to everyone who hated the betrayal of the first season, to give us anyone worth liking, while banking on the fact that the main couple has crazy good chemistry. So, it was a redo with the same characters in an alternate reality where he doesn't fake her medical record to make her think that she has leukemia and that he's her bone marrow match so he can trap her into marrying him. None of that. Instead he's just a stalker. The least of his crimes from before. A low key stalker who takes advantage of them getting into a scandal (because he is rich and she is famous) to trick her into an engagement to "save face" when it's actually to get her to actually marry him... so it works... kinda. At least he didn't cause the scandal. You have to then look passed the references they make to the original, like him cancelling the plan when the scandal happens, hinting that he was still capable of that, he just didn't need to this time (face palm). Whatever, I guess it's something of progress.

405. Three Lives, Three Worlds: The Pillow Book 三生三世枕上书 (2020) Chinese

Dilraba Dilmurat, Gao Weiguang

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A++

This drama was like crack. It was all my favorite characters from Peach Blossoms, and none of the characters I hated from Peach Blossoms, and relatively low on the craziness for the most part. But my obsession with watching it made me make some very poor drama decisions while waiting for episodes to be released and subbed. Oh well, I never actually regret what I put myself through, because at least I get write the review after (no, I regret it a lot, some of those were really terrible). Ahem. Overall, it's three (or five) different "lives" filled with misunderstandings and more misunderstandings, and really bad luck until the couple can finally get on the same page, but as misunderstandings go, the only one that really bothered me was the one at the end, but that was because all the stakes were higher at the end.

Anyway, Dijun and Feng Jiu were actually my favorite couple in Peach Blossoms, but that was probably because their romance didn't have anything to do with Sujin. Thank goodness. Also, Dijun and the Third Prince were like besties, and I really loved their dynamic. So when I heard that they were actually going to do their full story, I was on board. Plus, more Dijun means more Third Prince and Siming. I'm still waiting for the spinoff/mini drama or whatever when they let Third Prince finally successfully woo Cheng Yu. Maybe get some backstory there.

413. All I Want For Love Is You 满满喜欢你 (2019) Chinese

Lu Zhao Hua, Liu Yu Han, Xie Zhi Xun, Han Ting Yu, Liu Yin Jun, Sun Yan Qing

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't usually skip this many scenes... honestly I don't usually skip any scenes. I don't know if I was just not in the mood for this type of drama or if was just too invested in the main couple that anything delaying their already too delayed confessions and getting together was too much for me to handle. It might also be because of the sudden entrance of new players. I usually don't take too kindly to those at all. It's the typical high school drama with the smart/stoic boy and spunky/low graded girl that starts in the junior year and goes into college. Which means the second leads change as well. In high school we just had the best friends as love rivals, and everything was innocent and fine. Then all the sudden halfway through the show they enter the bigger world of college and meet even more annoying rivals that we didn't want to have to deal with. They probably weren't as bad as I'm making out, I just didn't want to deal with them. But the main couple was so cute that I kept coming back, even though I was skipping almost all of the episodes, since I refused to watch anything that didn't have the main couple interacting, or more accurately I probably just skipped through the scenes as soon as one of my hated love rivals appeared.

400. Never Twice 두번은 없다 (2019-2020) Korean

Park Se Wan, Kwak Dong Yeon, Youn Yuh Jung, Oh Ji Ho, Ye Ji Won, Park Ah In, Song Won Seok, Joo Hyun, Jung Suk Yong, Ko Su Hee

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

This wasn't my favorite weekend, family, freaking long drama, but I like it okay. I was invested in all the characters enough to get excited each week for it, but it was also just not the best. It was about a bunch of people living at an inn boarding house type deal, and they are all on their last chance at life, grasping for straws. They all also have a common enemy in the family of Guseong Hotel group, who were all conveniently the people who somehow screwed them all over so that they are on their last chance. There was so much fate between this found family that it was ridiculous. But the dynamic of the found family was good, and the chemistry between the main couple was such that I kept coming back for more, even though the plot wasn't always my favorite. Basically it's the rich people kicking the poor people down until they finally unite enough to get some revenge and redemption, etc.

410. I Bought My Boyfriend With A Loan 彼氏をローンで買いました (2018) Japanese

Erina Mano, Ryusei Yokohama, Ikumi Hisamatsu, Yuriko Ono, Yasushi Fuchikami, Kyoko Hasegawa

Drama Rating: 1/10     Neck Score: A

The moral of this story (I'll just tell it now) is that I make bad drama decisions while waiting for Pillow Book to get subbed. I was bored, I hadn't watched a Japanese drama in a while, I wanted it to be like Kimi wa Petto and it was not. I guess I watched it so no one else has to. It was so baffling that this will now be full of spoilers.

It was basically an eight episode long rant about how society and feminism have ruined traditional gender roles by forcing women into the workplace. I'm not sure how much was tongue in cheek, but it made me angry and completely flabbergasted most of the time. The main character is working at the reception desk of a major company, a contract worker, and her main goal in life is to become a housewife. There is apparently a tradition, complete with a manual passed from receptionist to receptionist, of working there to snag an elite spec husband. This manual is full of things like: "never show your true feelings," "always smile," and "never be annoying."